To Thine Own Self Be True

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:3


Poet Maya Angelou has a clear understanding of the power knowing one’s inner self. She says, “I can be changed by what happens to me. I refuse to be reduced by it. In the face of such uncertainty believe in these two things: you are stronger than you think, and you are not alone.” This is a statement describing a person in the midst of a storm. While it could easily be perceived as a physical storm, most people would agree Maya would be referring to an emotional or psychological storm. Many of us have dealt with these storms at various points in our lives. Relationships between loved ones, stress from an employment situation, and loss of a loved one all have the ability to create intense psychological storms in one’s life. But what would we say about spiritual storms? These are create when God is trying to make a change in our inner core. It could be a test of our faith or something which is opposite of the person you are. The struggle or storm might be publicly known or privately concealed, but whatever it is, the struggle can be as turbulent as any physical storm you might encounter. Furthermore, its length can go for days, months, and in severe cases, years. Some of us may very well be in that latter stage right now.


It is In dealing with these struggles or storm that we find our true self, and it is the true self where God looks to make the greatest change within us. When we are stressed and alone, we have no place to go or look but to see ourselves as we really are. If what we see is good, we know that God will continue to nurture and grow it to its fullest potential. If it is not good, this is what we are to confess to God so that He may be the instrument of change in our life. It is this ‘not so good’ part that Paul is specifically speaking to in this final part of the Hebrews 12 introduction. When things are darkest and we are most likely to resort to the old destructive self, it is then that he asks that we look to Jesus, who as was mentioned in Hebrews 12:2 is the perfecter and author of our faith.


Paul’s statement asks us to, “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men.” Now why is this of great significance? The answer is twofold. First, Paul does not command us to look to Jesus. He asks us to consider Jesus. This is a test of the authenticity of our faith because our journey of faith to follow Jesus is not a commandment. It is indeed a choice. Second, our Lord Jesus Christ withstood opposition not only from the establishments of the Sanhedrin, which is the supreme Jewish council, but also His people, His family, and even His own disciples. Could there have been anyone more alone in history than Jesus? And yet He not only withstood the opposition, He conquered it. Rather than taking the easy way out, He stayed true to His core self, which is God’s righteousness, and followed through on one of His greatest teachings in the process; to lay down His life for us. In John 15:13, Jesus says there is no greater love than one who lays down their life for their friends. Jesus laid His life down for the salvation not only of us but also those who then opposed Him. This is undeniable proof of His love for the world as well as divine truth by in essence practicing exactly what He preached. Paul, having been inspired by his own eyewitness account of these occurrences, naturally chose Jesus for us to consider when facing the storms of our lives. It is this inspiring story that is a driving force strengthening our faith and giving us the resolve to “not grow weary and lose heart.”


In summarizing the poetic introduction of Hebrews 12, we have learned a great deal of what Jesus Christ’s sacrifice really means to us. First, Paul reinforced our faith to trust in Jesus. He then moved to reiterate Jesus’ standing as indeed Lord and savior for us all. So what do we get out of the last part of this series? Paul asks us to remember who we are in Christ and to respond to the message of Jesus Christ in our hearts. In remembering who we really are, it is only through Christ that true change can occur in our lives, and when God asks us to change, we should respond affirmatively. Sometimes it requires some stormy times for us to endure, but if we stay true to ourselves and trust in Him, we will receive a seemingly endless amount of blessings. Shakespeare in the play Hamlet wrote, “This above all: to thine own self be true.” My prayer is that in Christ, we are indeed true to our own selves. Amen.

The Right Thing

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Hebrews 12:1


Have you ever heard a great poem and found it was so inspiring and profound that you end up dwelling on it? That kind of thinking came natural to me. After all, my middle name was from a famous philosopher/poet (Emerson). I used to write poems when I was younger, but needless to say none of them were on the level of my namesake. However every once in a while, I could hit the right tone with the right words, and blend it into poem that resembled what many of the modern poets would publish. To explain what a modern poet does is to see the world through their eyes. Most modern poets view the world as very fractured and out of control, and thus they must bring the world together through each line of their poetry.

In reading the beginning verses of Hebrews 12, I found a poetic beauty in it much like I would reading a modern poem. In it, you can visually imagine and picture a time when all is not right in the world since Jesus’ death and resurrection, and Paul, in this case ‘the modern poet,’ has been given the responsibility to bring the world back together through the Gospel. He is speaking where clearly there must have been some doubt among the people. It is a time where you can sense great fear and apprehension over the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will go over the first three verses of this chapter together over the next few weeks starting with the first verse here.

To address the fears of both the Hebrews then and us today, Paul in this very first verse speaks to both our natural reasoning and our hearts. He first moves to reinforce our beliefs by speaking of those (the cloud) who had seen the many miracles of Jesus for themselves. He next appeals to the commonality in the feelings that create hesitation in us all. It could be fear, pride, doubt, or apathy, but all of these among other feelings ‘hinder’ us from following through on that which we know to be true. Further he touches on the nature of our sins to inhibit us from doing what is right. While Paul says, “the sin that so easily entangles us,” sin by itself does not entangle us. We entangle ourselves through the shame that it carries (I’ll talk about shame next week). Thus our problem in many cases is an inability to truly confess and repent for if we truly embrace the Gospel, we know we are truly saved from our sins through the light of Jesus. Finally, Paul encourages us to get fully involved in the battle to transform lives. We are not merely to walk through the motions but rather ‘run with perseverance’ the path God has laid out for us. In other words, we are to exhibit a sense of urgency in whatever God has called us to do.

Paul understood that for us to grow in our journey of faith, we must overcome some obstacles, and thus his teaching here is to build us up to overcome them. There are many reasons for us at times to feel weary from our travels. Growth after all is never easy, and in most cases will be difficult. However, the rewards of not only eternal life but also a spirit filled with love, joy, and fulfillment is worth the painful sacrifice to achieve it. Additionally, a growing Christian’s potential to spark others to accept the Gospel is the true will of God. My prayer is that we all learn to accept that in spite of all that might hinder it, seeking our spiritual growth is indeed the right thing to do. Amen.

Take It All In

However many years a man may live, 
       let him enjoy them all. 
       But let him remember the days of darkness, 
       for they will be many. 
       Everything to come is meaningless.  Ecclesiastes 11:8


My mother taught me a long time ago that the life we are given is not a sprint.  It is a marathon.  I am sure many of you have heard this from your parents as well.  Furthermore, everyone is at a different point in the race.  Some of us who have been running it for a long time have been referred to as ‘older’.  It is interesting that although I certainly would be referred to by my children as ‘old’, I do not feel that way.  In fact, one might say spiritually I am fairly young.  There is a part of me that might lead me to believe that I have gotten old because I am not as fast and I have to go to bed early the day after staying out late the night before.  However, I have lived just over half the lifespan of my Dad, and where some things were not exactly what I would expect, I look at where I am today and have to say my life has been a good one thus far.  God has truly smiled on me.


None of us were promised that all the days would be sunny.  Additionally, none of us are promised tomorrow.  The life we live is full of joyful moments as well as times of sorrow.  There are triumphant times and tragic circumstances.  We have moments where we have been blessed with things that came our way, and equally as important, we have been blessed by lessons that we have learned as a result of failure.  No matter what has happened in our lives, we should embrace all of it!  You might ask are we really to accept the failures in our lives?  Even the times that we disappointed God and ourselves?  Yes, that is exactly what I am saying, and here is why.  Think of those times.  If we understand our failures and disappointments (the who, the why, the when), then those become areas of growth both personally and spiritually.  If I, a person who at the lowest point of his life broke down in his mother’s kitchen because he felt he had become a total failure at the young age of nineteen can become an instrument for God to help others, I can tell you that your failures will be a source of strength for God to use you in the future.  God is all-knowing, and to trust that He has always been there means we are to embrace all of our lives, which aides in our relationship with Him today and beyond.


Today’s verse serves as encouragement that we are to enjoy all of our years.  Sure there are days of darkness, but each day of darkness is nonetheless a day we have an opportunity to serve God faithfully here that many others did not.  One might say a day with God in Heaven today would be better than any day here on Earth, and that is true.  However, I believe that if we are still here, it is because our work here is not done, and He has a plan for us all.  As such, we should be glad of those days because He has chosen us to continue our journey to do as the Lord’s prayer says His will here as it is in Heaven.  My prayer is that we reflect on all of our life with a perspective full of love and appreciation.  May we embrace both the good and bad and take it all in.  Amen.

Preparing For The Message

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.  But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  Matthew 13:19-23

One Sunday, I felt like God was trying to tell me something. It started when I woke up in the morning, and something was dwelling that stirred inside of me. We are not talking like an out of body experience, but it might feel as if your mind and body felt were entirely focused on one thing.  Most Christians would identify this as connecting with the Holy Spirit. At any rate, I spent time trying to understand what exactly His message was for me. On the road to church, there was this feeling I had that something today would be different than other days. The message at church spoke on practicing rituals that keep your mind focused on God. “Guess that won’t be the problem today,” I thought. I continued to go down the path of what exactly the message was. To gain greater clarity, I had to stop off at a restaurant, and sit and ponder by myself to keep my focus. Still not knowing what it was, I knew I was on the right path because there was this synergy between both mind and spirit. An inner peace was beginning to take over, and a feeling of joy was evident in my face. Finally, the message was beginning to download. Before the evening had come, it had hit me.



The message was plain and simple. Exercise giving love. Give it freely. Not just to love others, but to love yourself. Realize that there is so much you have to offer, and that no matter what your situation is, you can love your way out of it! This is an obvious thing that most of us already know, but so often, we take the simple things for granted, don’t we? Love is truly a beautiful thing, and the more we give of it, the more we seemingly receive. I was grateful for the message this day, but I also realized an important lesson as well. Sometimes you have to slow down and put yourself in a position where you can fully receive and embrace the message given.


Listening to God should be a basic fundamental thing, but in a society that can push so much pressure on our time and energy, we may not take the time to fully hear the message. Sometimes we have to take a moment to tune ourselves into what is going on. Just like we have to prepare ourselves mentally for work, an event, or even for relaxing, it would seem logical for us to do the same to receive not only messages from God but also to read His word, pray for guidance, and receive the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we can forget that His message to us can come in various forms. Sometimes it is in a song and other times it could be a subtle comment from a friend or coworker. It could even be in a moment you have visualized previously. There are going to be times we fear listening to Him, and others where we might not like what He has to say. However, we must remember that He is faithful, loving, and attentive to our spiritual growth, and He is here to help if we are willing to trust in Him. Today, I urge to to take time to reflect and focus on God's plan for you.  Meditate on it.  Reflect on it.  If necessary, ask guidance on it.  May we always remember to prepare ourselves for the message God has for our life.  Amen.